Reusable Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheet-Based Aerogels as Sorbents for Oils and Organic Solvents

Abstract

Increasing oily wastewater and frequent oil leakage accidents have become a serious global environmental problem. To improve the adsorption capacity and simplify the recovery process of crude oil, it is a great significance to develop various advanced oil adsorbents and oilcollecting devices. In this work, a lightweight and compressible threedimensional (3D) g-C 3 N 4 /poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanosheet-based aerogel was successfully fabricated. The resulting 3D g-C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheet-based aerogel has the advantages of high porosity and good hydrophobicity, making it a suitable material for use as an adsorbent. The 3D g-C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheet-based aerogel can absorb various oils and organic solvents as high as 228−695 times its weight. Moreover, aerogel regeneration and recovery of oil can be achieved by cyclic distillation, squeezing, or combustion. After 40 cycles, the structure of 3D g-C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheet-based aerogels are well kept and the adsorption capacity still retained 95, 93, and 95% by distillation, squeezing, and combustion, respectively. 3D g-C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheet-based aerogel as an adsorbent has great potential in the application of oil/water separation for the removal of pollutants.

Two-dimensional material-based functional aerogels for treating hazards in the environment: synthesis, functional tailoring, applications, and sustainability analysis

“…Song et al reported a compressible 3D g-C 3 N 4 /PVA nanoflake aerogel. 135 Low density and high hydrophobicity endow the aerogel the ability to float on the water surface, which was more conducive to the solution of oil spills. In addition, the high mechanical strength and compressibility enable the aerogel to complete the renewable steps such as cyclic distillation, extrusion and combustion, and the adsorption capacity decreases little after the renewable cycle.…”

A 3D Cryogel Filter for Oily Wastewater with Metal Ion Fluorosensing Properties

“…One way of overcoming these problems may be the use of CNNs as functional nanofillers in composite materials. Nonetheless, although many works have been reported on the synthesis and the applications of CN-based materials, there is still a very limited number of studies on the development of CN porous polymer-based composites for chemosensing alone or combined with the removal of water contaminants. − For example, CNNs were introduced into polymer gel structures, such as polyacrylamide-based composites as well as acrylic resins for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. The use of CNNs for the surface functionalization of the commercial ultrafiltration membranes and their incorporation into surface coatings has also been reported in terms of the development of antifouling dye and salt filters.…”

Sorption and other properties of polytetrafluoroethylene/cellulose composite aerogels

“…To confirm these words, we give here only one reference. [ 24 ] In this work, it was shown that a three‐dimensional aerogel based on g‐C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheets can absorb various oils and organic solvents in an amount exceeding its weight by 228–695 times. Moreover, after 40 sorption–desorption cycles, the structure of 3D aerogels based on g‐C 3 N 4 /PVA nanosheets is preserved, and the adsorption capacity remains at the level of 93–95%.…”